Amazon’s 2024 Sustainability Report Highlights Net Zero Commitment and Progress

Amazon published its 2024 sustainability report, upholding its goal of reaching net zero carbon in all operations by the year 2040, which was established through The Climate Pledge co-founded by the business in 2019. The report details progress made on several environmental and sustainability fronts, such as emissions, energy, transport, waste, and biodiversity, as well as takes responsibility for the missteps that result from having more global operations.

In 2024, Amazon reduced the carbon intensity – a ratio of carbon emissions to economic activity – by 4% compared to the prior year. Yet overall emissions rose by 6% driven by business growth and data centre expansion. This means that while Amazon is more efficient in terms of doing things, its overall environmental impact rises due to global growth at a fast pace.

The company announced significant advancements in sustainable transportation. Amazon operates 31,400 electric delivery vans worldwide and shipped 1.5 billion packages through EVs in 2024 alone. The company surpassed its target of deploying 10,000 electric vehicles long before schedule in India. Amazon plans to double its EV fleet to 100,000 by 2030, which will play a crucial role in curbing emissions from last-mile deliveries.

In the field of renewable energy, Amazon was the biggest corporate buyer of renewable energy for the fifth year in a row. For the second year in a row, this company matched 100% of the electricity consumed by its worldwide operations with renewable sources. During the period leading up to 2024, Amazon had announced as many as 621 renewable energy projects worldwide, out of which this year saw 124 projects announced. These plans contribute 34 gigawatts (GW) of clean capacity to Amazon's path toward carbon-free operations.

Amazon also highlighted how it has been improving in waste reduction. It has avoided 4.2 million metric tonnes of waste packaging materials since 2015. In 2024, Amazon had a waste diversion rate of 83% globally and donated 81 million meals across the globe. The company's diversion of waste involves recycling, composting, and other methods of avoiding waste disposal in landfills.

In the areas of water conservation and biodiversity, Amazon issued a statement that recycled back to society 4.3 billion litres of water in 2024. This is towards its ambition of making Amazon Web Services (AWS) water positive by 2030 since it will recycle water back into the environment more than it used in its direct operations. Amazon, in its biodiversity initiative, has announced that it had restored or protected 49,000 hectares of land over the past five years, inspiring environmental conservation in many places.

Artificial intelligence is also spearheading Amazon's green strategy. Amazon has used AI to improve fashion size recommendations, identify water leaks, and reduce wasteful packaging. All these AI-based technologies are designed to get things done more efficiently with a smaller environmental impact.

While growth is occurring in all sectors, Amazon also realizes that growth on sustainability is not necessarily linear due to the complexity of its multiple businesses and dynamic nature of its products. Yet the report indicates ongoing emphasis on ensuring that integration of sustainable practices occurs within its business and customer operations.

Amazon's sustainable long-term approach is based on its goal of net zero emissions, building on renewable energy, curbing plastics and packaging waste, transport electrification, water stewardship, and biodiversity restoration. These actions conform to the international sustainability objectives and address increasing demand for large companies to exhibit transparent and quantifiable climate action.

Source:
Figures from Amazon's 2024 Sustainability Report. Original article reference: Net Zero News.